Whale aerobatics: You can expect the unexpected at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week, and photos like these, taken by competitors during the regatta, could win you a prize in the Race Week Photo Competition Hamilton Island www.hamiltonisland.com.au

That is just part of what is in store for competing sailors, families and friends when Audi Hamilton Island Race Week fires into action on August 18.

‘It is our way of saying thank you to the sailors for making the effort to be with us for Audi Hamilton Island Race Week,’ said the island’s CEO – world champion and Olympic sailor, Glenn Bourke. ‘We want everyone to realise there is no regatta like this in Australia, possibly the world, and we want them to sample what is part of the build-up to our 30th anniversary Race Week next year. That regatta promises to be nothing short of spectacular in every sense.’

On the eve of the start of racing each competing yacht docked in Hamilton Island’s harbour will receive a chilled five-litre keg of Heineken beer, and there will be a Heineken beer voucher in each Race Week Skipper’s Pack.

Then, from start to finish, there will be free entertainment and parties – including the already legendary pool party – for all to enjoy. On Front Street, the big stage outside the Tavern will have top-line bands turning each night into a dance party. At the regatta’s Opening Night party four legendary artists – Eric Weideman (1927), Mark Gable (Choirboys), John Swan (Jimmy Barnes’ brother) and Angry Anderson – will be setting the pace for the week.

However, without doubt, the highlight for the week will be a salute to our Gold Medal winning team of Olympic sailors. Audi Hamilton Island Race Week organisers have arranged for many of our team of sailors to fly directly from London to Hamilton Island for a ticker-tape parade along Front Street and a celebration. They will be accompanied by the man the sailing world calls ‘The Medal Maker’, the team’s head coach, Victor Kovalenko.

An additional bonus for all competitors at Race Week will be a Sailors’ Forum with a panel made up of some of the best-known names in the sport: famous round-the-world sailors Mike Sanderson, Tom Addis and Gordon Maguire, plus long-time Wild Oats XI crewman, Steve Jarvin. They will be discussing the best tactics to apply when sailing on the waters around Hamilton Island, and how to sail faster.

There is one other competition where those who were at Audi Hamilton Island Race Week 2010 and 2011 can participate – the Audi Hamilton Island Race Week Facebook photo competition. This is where Race Week’s growing number of Facebook followers has a chance to win some fantastic prizes simply by submitting their favourite, non-professional, on-water and onshore images from either Race Week 2010 or 2011. The deadline for uploading images is Friday, August 10, 2012, and the winner will be announced via Facebook on Friday August 17. Details can be found on the regatta’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/raceweek